Page 48 of Journey To Sunrise

“Which hospital entrance?” Evie already had her phone out, pulling up directions.

“Emergency room. Tell them you're family.” Gus squeezed my shoulder harder. “Rosie will still be there. Blonde hair, tattoo sleeve on her left arm. She'll give you the real story.”

Drake steered me toward the door. “Let's go.”

“Wait,” Gus called after us. “He saved four people tonight. Four workers trapped on the second floor. Him and Luke got them all out before the collapse.”

The information bounced off me. I didn't care about heroics. I just needed him breathing.

The parking lot felt miles wide. Drake practically carried me the last few steps to the car. Evie climbed in back, already calling out directions to Parkland.

“Fifteen minutes.” She leaned between the seats. “Drake, go fast.”

He didn't need the encouragement. The engine roared as we tore out of the lot.

Chapter Thirteen

Chloe

The waiting room was filled with grim-faced men and women covered in soot. Some still had parts of their uniforms on.

As soon as I came into the room flanked by Drake and Evie, a blond-bearded man stood up and made his way over to me.

“You’re Chloe, aren’t you?”

“Zarek. What do you know about Zarek? They wouldn’t tell me anything downstairs.”

I was barely keeping it together.

“They’re doing a CT scan. He’s conscious.”

I saw a young woman holding a toddler.

“And the others? How are they doing?”

“Juan is in surgery. His leg got caught under one of the beams. It’s a mess. They’re putting in hardware. It was Zarek who carried him out.”

I tried to smile but just didn’t have it in me.

“Gus said three people were injured?” Drake asked. “What’s the status of the third person?”

“Kylie Powers pulled out the last worker. The man was out of control with fear, knocked Kylie’s face gear off. She ended up inhaling a lot of smoke, but she got both of them out of there. Damn it, almost all of us wanted to kick that guy’s ass. Here she was trying to save him, and he could have ended up getting them both killed.”

“When are we going to hear about Zarek?” I asked.

“They said it would be about an hour,” Luke said. “He’ll be fine. He has a hard head.”

“Come sit down.” Evie guided me to an empty chair.

I did my best to keep calm, but I knew the fact that Zarek had been conscious and then had passed out was a bad sign. Every bad outcome I had ever read about in school came rushing back to me.

“Honey, you’re whimpering,” Drake said as he put his arm around me.

I looked up at my big brother with tear-filled eyes.

“You know it’s bad too.”

“I’m used to this shit happening far from hospitals. I’m doing a fucking happy dance that he’s at one of the nation’s premier trauma centers, instead of in the middle of some Godforsaken desert.” I searched Drake’s face and realized that he was serious. For the first time it became abundantly clear just what being a SEAL meant.